John Gregory
John Gregory was a famous spook from the County that spent his life fighting the dark in the Chipenden area. Biography Background John Gregory was born in the Anglezarke Moor, where he later moved to 13 Watery Lane, Horshaw, where he and his family grew up. The house was haunted by the ghasts of a miner and his wife. John, being the seventh son of a seventh son, had to endure the cries of the ghasts every night and the sounds of the miner walking around the house. When he told his father of the cries, his father didn’t believe him and beat him for lying. After deciding to become a spook, John Gregory took all of his apprentices to this house so that he could see what they were made of. Many fled the house, but some stayed on. At midnight, he required his apprentices to face the noise that was coming from the cellar, which turned out to be John hiding in a corner. Throughout his career he took on twenty nine apprentices before his final apprentice, Thomas Ward, though many died, only Morgan strayed from the Light. The Spook's Apprentice John traveled to the Ward farm and took under his wing what would be his final apprentice, Thomas Ward. ''The Spook's Revenge'' Gregory was killed fighting alongside the witch assassin, Grimalkin, while trying to stop the Fiend's servants from reuniting the Fiend's severed head and body. Tom had the honor of inscribing his tombstone, Tom chose "Here lies John Gregory of Chipenden. The greatest of the County spooks." It is next to the bench in the Western Garden. Physical appearance He is said to be a tall man with a beard, a crooked nose, and green eyes. Personality He is shown to be a very strict man and does not like anyone who doesn't follow his rules. However he displays an open-mind to all his apprentices and shows pride in their accomplishments. He is bound to a very strict moral code and does not approve of using the "dark", even for the "greater good". Powers and abilities The spook is shown to be highly skilled with his staff and chain, and before his recent decline, was very energetic and had high stamina. * Mediumship: Gregory has the natural ability of all seventh sons of seventh sons, to speak and hear the dead, long after the spirits have passed. *'Marksmanship': Being a spook for over 60 years has armed Gregory with expert marksmanship abilities, especially when confronted with beings that need to be bound with a silver chain, one of the main tools of trade for a spook. *'Immunity': Being a seventh son of a seventh son, the spook is immune to a witch's long range sniffing and the siren's song. Relationships Family Andrew Gregory John and Andrew often have a fairly warm brotherly relationship, with Andrew often worrying about his younger brother's well being. They have been shown disagreeing several times, but it's obvious that the two brothers are still on good terms with one another. Paul Gregory John appeared to trust Paul when he was a child, telling each other about their nightmares and trusting one another to wake them up before the nightmare ended. Nothing else is known about Paul, other than the fact that he is dead. Thomas Ward The spook often acts distant and professional towards Tom, rarely praising him incase it causes Tom to become too proud or arrogant, but occasionally shares the odd joke with his apprentice. The spook is shown to genuinely care for Tom, by trying to cheer him up when he is distressed. As the series goes on, the relationship changes often. Sometimes for the worst, when Tom uses the dark, does something wrong with Alice or goes against him. However it also changes for the better as you see Tom start to take over from John and he simply mentors him, and becomes a type of father figure to him. Alice Deane The spook strongly distrusts Alice, causing them to have a highly strained relationship; but it is hinted that they share a sense of humour, when Alice laughs loudly at one of his jokes about Tom's cooking. Many times the Spook tries to get rid of Alice, either by pit, banishment, or simply sending her away. He does however realize the relationship between Tom and Alice and their closeness, but he doesn't want them together, due to his distrust of Alice. Bill Arkwright The spook's opinion on Bill are almost completely unknown, the few things the spook has said about Arkwright are about his disapproval of his harsh behavior towards the apprentices he takes on for six months, mentioning how he had previously never wanted to send another boy into his training, but changing his mind later and sending Tom to spend the late fall and winter with him. Despite this, John appears to like Bill in the end, being saddened by his death and being willing to go through several setbacks when trying to rescue him after being kidnapped by water witches. Mam The spook disagrees with a lot of her ways, but appears to have a great underlying respect for Mrs.Ward, shown when he bows to her in the first book. Meg Skelton The spooks former true love, although a lamia witch John could not bear putting her in a pit. John and Meg lived together in Chipenden until residents began to become jealous of her beauty and accused her of being a witch. In response Meg cast spells on the women, causing John to lock her up in his winter house in Anglezark. The Spook gives her a tea with special substances to make her forget she is a witch, until she is not given the tea and she realizes she was fooled. When she finds out, she decides to go home to Greece, and John is heartbroken. Morgan Hurst A former apprentice of the spook who turned to the dark, and tried to raise Golgoth. Morgan successfully raises Golgoth but at the cost of his life, for the spook changed the inscriptions, in case Morgan ever tried again his life and soul would be sucked out by Golgoth. Judd Brinscall He is a Spook who John Gregory trained as his apprentice. Appearances *The Spook's Apprentice *The Spook's Curse *The Spook's Secret *The Spook's Battle *The Spook's Mistake *The Spook's Sacrifice *The Spook's Nightmare *The Spook's Tale *The Spook's Stories: Witches ** Meg Skelton *The Spook's Bestiary (written from Mr Gregory's personal experiences) * The Spook's Revenge Trivia *Over the course of certain events, such as being defeated by Bony Lizzie over three times, the Spook has weakened to the point where he considers sending Tom out on the more dangerous jobs. In Lure of the Dead, he transfers the mantle of ''The Chipenden Spook ''to Tom. Category:Spooks Category:Humans Category:Male characters Category:Deceased Category:County-born Category:The Spook's Apprentice characters Category:Seventh Son Characters Category:The Spook's Curse Characters Category:The Spook's Secret Characters Category:The Spook's Battle Characters Category:The Spook's Mistake Characters Category:The Spook's Sacrifice Characters Category:The Spook's Nightmare Characters Category:The Spook's Tale Characters Category:The Spook's Stories: Witches Characters Category:The Spook's Revenge Characters Category:Gregory Family Category:The Spook's Seventh Apprentice characters Category:The Spook's Bestiary characters